Professional Care by Nurses Case Study 2022

Running head: Professional care by nurses
Professional care by nurses
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1PROFESSIONAL CARE BY NURSES
Professional practice issues in this case study
In this case study, we see that a patient died due to medical negligence of the health
workers. A patient had complained of feeling dizzy with very low heart rate, respiratory rate
and blood pressure. The enrolled nurse had informed the respondent to review her condition
but it kept on getting delayed because of the absence of the locum. When the respondent was
informed about the patient suffering from continual diarrhoea, she went to review her
condition but failed to document it. The respondent had understood that the patients'
condition was getting critical but still waited for the locum doctor. When there was a
committee meeting, she acknowledged the deteriorating condition in the vital parameters of
the patient. After this, the respondent arranged for an ECG to be undertaken for the patient.
After about 2 hours the respondent informed the clinical nurse manager about medications for
another patient which she signed. However, the clinical nurse manager Mrs. Jones was not
informed about the patient’s condition and her need for immediate treatment. After about 4
hours of the patient’s admitting to the hospital the registered nurse and the respondent
completed the procedure of ISBAR form after assurance from the family. The ISBAR form is
used for prompt communication and is an important document for health care settings. The
respondent in the form indicated that the patient’s condition was serious and was
deteriorating with no sign of recovery. Based on the remarks made on the form, the
emergency on-call doctor was called to inspect her health. After some time the doctor arrived
and inserted a large-bore IV cannula to treat her dehydration but there was still no sight of
recovery. On seeing the condition it was attempted to shift her to better health care settings
but shifting her could have made the situation worse. Ultimately she died when air evacuation
team arrived to assess her the next morning.

2PROFESSIONAL CARE BY NURSES
Relevant professional errors that contributed to the situation
The primary rationale for collaboration and professionalism in health care is to ensure
safety to the patient as per the principle 2 in the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
("Professional standards", 2019). In this situation, collaboration was missing between health
professionals. It can be said that in this particular situation there was a serious issue of
professional practice and lack of seriousness given to the patient's situation. The situation of
the patient could have been recovered if immediate health care service was provided with
doctors and senior nurses informed without delay. In this situation, it would have been ideal
if the respondent could manage time and understand the gravity of the condition of the
patient. Taking decisions in an emergency situation is what nurses are supposed to do. The
emergency on-call doctor should have been approaches instead of waiting for the locum. The
four hours turned to be critical for the patient as her situation worsened. The lapse on the
respondent’s part worsened the situation of the patient. Instead of starting her treatment on a
priority basis, the enrolled nurse and the respondent failed to treat the patient efficiently.
There are important domains of professional care for nurses where communication and
interpersonal skills were missing between the health professionals ("Professional standards",
2019). The reason for her death was given septicaemia. Septicaemia is a life-threatening
disease where the bacteria spreads into the blood and is treated in the hospital. Due to lack of
clinical expertise, the patient did not receive the correct diagnosis and eventually led to her
death. Nurses and doctors need to put more emphasis on the service that is being provided to
the patient. When a critical patient arrives at the hospital, careful and immediate assessment
of their vital signs needs to be carried out to chalk out a treatment plan for the patient. This
will ensure proper treatment of the patient with increased satisfaction.
The maintenance of clinical standards and professional competencies is a mandatory
requirement in the clinical domain. Time management is a crucial issue which is mandatory